Does anyone else get nervous about the dentist coming?

I am not over keen tbh as a couple of my lot have a few issues.

Zeb doesn't like the gag going on as he is earshy so expects his ears will get touched, which causes meltdown :eek: he actually loves it once the gag is on.

Wally although a shetland is quite tall on his hind legs, he doesn't like men and is a bit headshy.

Have to say that the dentist I now use has brilliant handling skills which has improved things a lot, lovely calm chap.

Bertie has sedalin as he just tries to run through you.

The other two are fantastic :happy: so no worries there.
 
Terrified as last time my horse reared up and smashed the roof of his stable! Thankfully he was okay, not impressed with the dentist though as I told him I didnt think he'd ever had it done before, was headshy, too many men made him nervous and was a bit funny about his mouth being touched. I was hoping he'd just open his mouth, try on the equipment and give a little rasp so I had an idea if my boy needed sedation or anything.

Instead he had 2 guys trying to hold him steady while he tried to yank a tooth out :frown:
 
Oh gawd, you're making me worry now!
I had my horse's teeth checked when I got him - vet was really good, got the gag on and had a feel about but decided nothing needed done so all fine.
Second time happened to fall on the same day I needed sedating for farrier visit so he was under for the experience and no problem whatsoever.
Third time vet (a different one) came and put the gag on upside down, and then couldn't get Flip's mouth open. When he did manage enough to have a feel about, he said there was nothing needing done and if there had been, he'd have had to sedate him.
I really want to see if he's ok without sedation, so have a equine dentist coming out this time, in a couple of weeks time. I voiced my concerns over the phone to him and he said he was happy to try without sedative, and would happily hang about incase Flip needed sedating (I've got domecidin (sp?!), sedalin doesn't touch the sides!)
Fingers crossed.
 
Last edited:
Good luck Shockblue, hope it goes ok and Maya enjoys the experience.

I look forward to the dentist coming. I've known him for nearly 10 years now, he is such a good horseman, really kind and gentle with the horses. I've never known any needing sedating though - Freja is getting done in a couple of weeks. Hopefully ...

OMG HOW FREAKY IS THIS! DENTIST JUST TEXT ME :help:
 
Don't get nervous when the dentist is coming, no. He's a great guy, excellent with the horses and they practically fall asleep when he does them.

When the vet is coming out to give jabs that's a different story as I'm a nervous wreck then. The horses are always fine, I just hate them having to have needles stuck in them.
 
No, I've never worried cos our vets are really good with them. Over the years Joe had a lot of work done and it was only the good care and attention he received that saved him a lot more trouble in later years. Ours have always needed sedation and we've never had aorobkem with this. I'd much rather they had a quick jab and went dopey than got upset.
 
I've never actually watched or met my dentist! BUT he is the dentist we used at work and of a yard of 40 horses (not all of them easy, some very difficult and many with issues) there was only ONE horse that had to be sedated, he had been scoped a lot in the past and so can get headshy, at 18.2hh it's just easier to sedate.

Henry can be a fidget but the dentist is very calming and relaxing with him, my best friend was there last time he had them done and liked the dentist so much she now uses him too!
 
Have to say after reading quite a few threads on here I do worry about some of the experiences some of the horses have had - both with dentists and vets. Thank goodness ours are well trained in equine dentistry. I know they all regularly attend training in this area - but it souns like some practices don't. Does it not work out very expensive for those of you that have the dentist rather than vet? If vet has to come to administer a sedative?
 
My vet says that they normally sedate all horses because it means they can do a really good job and not have to worry they have missed anything. When Ben had his done he really seemed to enjoy it.
 
After Mac's first experience with the dentist we decided it was safer for all concerned to have him sedated especially as he is so big. It makes it much less traumatic for Mac and less tiring and safer for the dentist. At our yard we usually have several horses seen by the dentist on one visit and as there is one other horse that needs sedation we share the vet's visit fee. Mac was done just as few weeks ago, the vet's charge was £77.90 (she also changed Mac's dressings on his legs at the same time) and the dentist charged £40. I know that sounds a lot but I'd rather not take the chance of Mac, dentist or me getting injured. We did try sedalin but it had didn't have any effect.

So no, I don't have any worries about it now.
 
I wouldn't have a vet do my horses teeth!

what if the vet also happens to be a qualified EDT? or if the head nurse at the vets is a qualified EDT? (or maybe i am very lucky and spoilt!!!)

i dont dread the dentist coming - i trust her, the ponies trust her and if needs be, the vet is on hand to sedate if required. i'd rather have them sedated than have a horrible and potentially dangerous and stressful fight.
 
Have to say after reading quite a few threads on here I do worry about some of the experiences some of the horses have had - both with dentists and vets. Thank goodness ours are well trained in equine dentistry. I know they all regularly attend training in this area - but it souns like some practices don't. Does it not work out very expensive for those of you that have the dentist rather than vet? If vet has to come to administer a sedative?

I don't think any of my lot have had a bad experience with either a vet or dentist, just some idiot of a person at some time in their lives.

Zebedee has been ear twitched so it very reactive about his ears, but he is very much a people pony.

Wally is a classic nervous aggressive type as he has plainly been handled very badly in his past.

I have no idea why Bertie is scared of the dentist but I do know that he had not had his teeth done for his whole 16 years before he came to me.
 
I was happy with the sedalin. I was going to get her fully sedated. But vet couldn't make it so she dropped of the sedalin. Maya was relaxed but aware and seemed to really enjoy it. Even dentist was surprised as one of her field mates was fully sedated and still a pain in the bum and he doesn't rate sedalin as it doesn't work for a lot of horses as people don't use it right most of the time (what he said). So in the end I was happier as she had a good experience and wasn't completely zonked out.
 
newrider.com